Total Dictation is an annual literacy test for all ages, nationalities, education levels and social status. Its objectives are to demonstrate that literacy is important for everyone, that it may not be easy to learn Russian, but it is fascinating and useful, and to unite everyone who can or wants to write and speak Russian.
Students at the Novosibirsk State University Humanities Institute held the first Total Dictation in 2004. University teachers dictated the texts until 2008. Over the past 15 years, Total Dictation has become an international event with 227,000 people in 1,021 cities located in 76 countries participating in 2018.
Olga Rebkovets, Director of the Total Dictation Foundation described the event,
On April 13, 2019, more than 200 thousand participants will choose to sit at desks and write a dictation. It is especially important for us to show that it is fashionable to write correctly, and to help those who wish to improve their knowledge or remember the rules. Total Dictation is a celebration of the Russian language, an opportunity to test yourself, and to identify gaps in spelling and punctuation. We want everyone to have the opportunity to improve their knowledge throughout the year. Therefore, we also conduct classroom courses, an online school, and have created an online course "Never Write ‘Never’”, that is open to everyone. Last year Total Dictation celebrated its 15th anniversary by having the dictation read at NSU by Yandex's voice assistant "Alisa". This was the first time that a voice assistant was entrusted with the role of “dictator". In addition, the University conducted free preparatory courses "Russian on Fridays".
